A  Sermon  preached  at  the  Installation 
of  Rev.  Melton  Clark  as  Pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  April  7,  1907,  by  Rev. 
E.  C.  Murray,  D.  D.,   Graham.   N.  C. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/presbyterianismhOOmurr 


PRESBYTERIANISM  :    A  HISTORI- 
CAL Sketch. 


By  Rev.  E.  C.  Murray,  D.  D. 


Text  :  "The  Lord  loveth  the  gates  of  Zion  more 
than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob. 

"Glorious  things  are  spoken  of  thee,  O  city  of 
God.  Selah." 

"And  of  Zlon  it  shall  be  said,  This  and  that  man 
was  born  in  her  :  and  the  Highest  himself  shall  es- 
tablish her. 

The  Lord  shall  count,  when  he  writeth  up  the  peo- 
ple, that  this  man  was  born  there.  Selah. 

"As  well  the  singers  as  the  players  on  instruments, 
shall  he  there  :  all  my  springs  are  in  thee." 


he  Lord  delights  in  his  church;: 
He  loveth  the  gates  of  Zion 
more  than  all  the  dwellings  of 
Jacob.''  To  be  a  member  of  the  church 
is  an  exalted  privilege :  Glorious  things 

are  spoken  of  thee,  0  City  of  God  of 

Zion  it  shall  be  said,  This  and  that  man 
was  born  in  her;  and  the  Highest  Him- 
self shall  establish  her.  The  Lord  shall 
count,  when  he  writeth  up  the  people^ 
that  this  man  was  born  there.  They  that 
sing  shall  say,  All  my  fountains  are  in 
thee."  And  especially  may  we  feel  a 
glow  of  worthy  pride  in  the  thought  that 
we  belong  to  the  church  that  exemplifies 
the  orignal  principles  of  government  and 
worship,  and  most  faithfully  conserves^ 
the  ancient  traditions. 
^  Presbyterianism  is  that  system  which 
ci  regards  the  church  as  a  spiritual  com- 


wealth  composed  of  the  families  of  be- 
lievers. Its  only  Head  and  Lord  is 
Christ.  He  governs  his  church  through 
courts  composed  of  presbyters  (elders) 
or  bishops.  These  presbyter-bishops  are 
all  of  one  order  and  of  equal  authority. 
The  temporal  affairs  of  the  church  are 
administered  by  deacons.  All  officers  are 
elected  by  the  members  and  ordained  by 
the  courts.  Each  congregation  is  govern- 
ed by  its  session,  composed  of  several 
elders.  The  organic  unity  of  the  whole 
church  is  realized  through  an  ascending 
series  of  courts  of  jurisdiction — Session, 
Presbyterv,  Synod,  and  General  Assem- 
bly* 

Now  let  us  trace  the  origin  and  his- 
torical development  of  these  principles. 
The  church  as  an  organized  society  dates 
back  to  the  time  when  God  called  Abra- 
ham out  of  heathendom,  set  apart  his 
family  as  a  peculiar  people  unto  the 
Lord,  made  a  special  covenant  with  them 
and  appointed  circumcision  as  the  seal 
of  the  covenant  to  be  administered  to 
the  faithful  and  their  offspring.  The 
government  of  this  primitive  church  was 
patriarchal,  the  head  of  the  family,  or 
elder,  combining  in  himself  all  the  func- 
tions of  government,  discipline  and  wor- 
ship. 

As  this  one  family  grew  into  many, 
governmental  authority  was  vested  not 
only  in  the  various  heads  of  households 
individually,  but  in  the  heads  of  families 
and  tribes  collectively.  Through  these 
representatives  God  dealt  with  his  peo- 


4 


pie  (Ex.  3:16).  They  administered  gov- 
ernment (Deut.  22 :15-19,  25 :7)  ;  and  dis- 
cipline (Deut.  21:18-19);  and  lead  in 
worship  (Lev.  4:15,  Deut.  31:9-12.  And 
finally  Moses  was  directed  to  organize  a 
Piipreme  court  of  elders  to  exercise  ju- 
risdiction over  the  whole  nation — the 
first  Presbyterian  General  Assembly 
(Num.  11:16-17).  Here  we  find  already 
aii  ascending  series  of  courts,  composed 
of  elders  of  households,  of  families,  of 
tribes  and  of  the  iiaiii)n 

After  the  Babylonish  captivity  we 
note  a  further  development  of  this  Pres- 
byterian system,  preparatory  to  the 
Christian  dispensation.  Synagogues 
were  organized,  each  governed  by  a 
court  of  at  least  three  elders,  called 
'^rulers  of  the  synagogue,''  (Mark  5:22, 
etc.)  Jesus  warned  his  disciples:  ^^They 
will  deliver  you  up  to  their  sessions,  and 
they  will  scourge  you  in  their  syna- 
gogues,'' (Matt.  10:17).  Each  syna- 
gogue had  also  its  board  of  deacons.  And 
there  was  established  at  Jerusalem  a  su- 
preme court  of  elders.  ^^The  Presbytery 
came  together  and  led  him  into  their 
session,"  (Luke  22:66).  Paul  appealed 
to  ^'the  high  priest  and  the  whole  Pres- 
•bytery"  (Acts  22:5).  In  all  these  pas- 
sages I  translate  the  Greek  literally. 

The  Christian  Church  retained  the  fa- 
miliar organization  and  worship  of  the 
syangogue.    Archbishop  Whateley  says: 

^^The  apostles  did  not  so  much  form 
a  Christian  church,  as  make  an  existing 
congregation  Christian,  leaving  the  ma- 


5 


ehinery  of  government  unchanged. And 
Bishop  Lightfoot,  the  most  learned  of  ail 
the  English  bishops,  says:  ^^They  would 
naturally  adopt  the  normal  government 
of  the  synagogue,  and  a  body  of  elders 
would  be  chosen  to  direct  religious  wor- 
ship.'' 

The  Apostle  James  applied  the  very 
name  ^  ^  synagogue ' '  to  the  Christian 
church  (Jas.  2:2).  We  find  the  same  old 
officers,  elders  and  deacons,  in  the  new 
organization  (1  Tim.  3,  Tit.  1);  The 
terms  elder  and  bishop  were  applied  in- 
terchangeably to  the  same  office  (Acts 
20:17,  28.  Tit.  1:5,  7).  These  officers 
performed  the  same  duties  as  formerly, 
the  elders  ^'ruling  and  laboring  in  word 
and  doctrine''  (1  Tim.  5:17),  and  the 
deacons  carng  for  the  material  welfare 
of  the  church  (Acts  6:1-6).  The  pres- 
byters were  organized  in  the  same  as- 
cending series  of  courts:  each  congrega- 
tion was  governed  by  its  sessioii,  the 
apostles  having  elders  elected  in  every 
church"  (Acts  14:23);  Timothy  was 
ordained  by  ^Hhe  laying  on  of  the  hands 
of  Presbytery"  (1  Tim.  4:14;  and  a  dis- 
pute in  the  Presbytery  of  Antioch  was 
settled  by  an  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  Je- 
rusalem (Acts  15:2,  16:4).  The  worship 
also  of  the  Christian  church  contained 
the  same  simple  spiritual  elements  as 
that  of  the  synagogue.  The  Apostolic 
Church  therefore  was  certainly  neither 
congregational  nor  prelatical,  but  Pres- 
byterian. 

It  is  evident  now  why  we  do  not  con- 


6 


cern  ourselves  about  the  question  of 
apostolic  succession.  The  Presbj'terian 
church  was  2,000  years  old  before  the 
apostles  were  born;  they  were  reared  in 
it  and  served  it;  and  one  of  the  greatest 
of  them  gloried  in  the  fact  that  he  was 
one  of  its  presbyters.  ''The  elders  I 
exhort,  who  also  am  an  elder:  feed  the 
flock  of  God,  taking  the  oversight  there- 
of, not  as  being  lords  of  God^s  heritage, 
but  bring  ensamples  to  the  flock  (1  Pet. 
5:1-3).  So  spoke  the  apostle  whom  the 
Church  of  Rome  claims  as  its  first  pri- 
mate. 

As  to  the  post-apostolic  period,  the 
scholarly  Bishop  of  Salisbury  declares 
that  throughout  the  esirlj  church,  even 
at  Rome  and  Alexandria,  down  to  the 
third  century,  its  government  was  Pres 
byterian.  Deans  Stanley  and  Milman 
are  of  the  opinion  that  ''nothing  like 
modern  episcopacy  existed  before  the 
second  century.''  And  Bishop  Light- 
foot  testifies  that  "Presbytery  is  not  a 
later  growth  out  of  Epscopacy,  but  Epis- 
copacy is  a  later  growth  out  of  Presby- 
tery. ' ' 

What  then  were  the  causes  of  the  de- 
cline of  Presbyterianism  ?  The  preach- 
ing elder  ^became  gradually  regarded  as 
superior  to  the  others,  and  those  of  large 
city  churches  as  superior  to  the  country 
ministers.  Ambitious  presbyters  usurp- 
ed more  and  more  authority,  and  became 
"lords  over  God's  heritage."  By-and-by 
they  assumed  episcopal  authority  over 


7 


the  whole  neighborhood,  and  thus  arose 
the  diocesan  Bishop. 

Again,  the  church  began  to  imitate  in 
its  worship  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Jewish  and  heathen  temples,  and 
we  hear  of  priests  and  altars  and  sacri- 
fices. The  deacon  became  a  levito,  the 
presbyter  a  priest,  and  the  bishop  a  high 
priest.  And  so  sacerdotalism  became  the 
dominant  idea  of  the  ministry,  and  a 
tide  of  ritualism  and  clericalism  swept 
over  the  church. 

The  union  of  Church  and  State  under 
Constantine  in  the  fourth  century  re- 
sulted in  a  conformity  in  civil  and  eccles- 
iastical government.  A  regular  grada- 
tion of  church  officers  was  instituted, 
bishops  over  dioceses,  archbishops  over 
districts,  metropolitan  bishops  over  pro- 
vinces, exarchs  over  several  provinces, 
and  patriarchs  over  empire.  Of  the  lat- 
ter the  patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and 
Rome  became  preeminent;  and  thus 
arose  the  two  ecclesiastical  empires,  the 
Greek  and  the  Roman  Catholic  churches. 

Thus  republican  Presbyterianism  grad- 
ually degenerated  into  aristocratic  Epis- 
copacy, and  finally  into  despotic  Papacy. 

This,  however,  was  not  accomplished 
without  opposition.  Ambrose,  in  the 
fourth  century,  protested:  ^^The  syna- 
gogue, and  afterwards  the  church,  had 
elders,  without  whose  counsel  nothing 
was  to  be  done;  which  grew  into  disuse, 
by  what  negligence  I  know  not,  unless 
by  the  cloth,  or  rather  the  pride,  of  the 
teachers    (preachers)    while  they  alone 


8 


wished  to  appear  something/'  So  also 
Jerome:  Little  by  little  the  presbyters 
were  defrauded  out  of  their  original 
rights.  A  presbyter  is  the  same  as  a 
bishop;  and  before  these  were,  by  the 
devil's  instigation,  parties  in  religion 
.  .  .  .  the  churches  were  governed 
by  the  common  counsel  of  the  presbyters. 
But  afterwards  it  was  determined  that 
one  presbyter  should  be  set  above  the 
rest,  to  whom  all  the  care  of  the  churches 
should  belong.  So  let  the  bishops  know 
that  they  are  above  the  presbyters  more 
by  the  esteem  of  the  church  than  by  the 
true  dispensation  of  Christ." 

The  church  was  never  without  faithful 
witnesses  against  prelatical  government, 
ritualistic  worship  and  heretical  doc- 
trines. There  were  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Middle  Ages  down  to  the  Refor- 
mation large  exceptions  from  the  prin- 
ciples of  episcopal  government  which 
can  be  called  by  no  other  name  than 
presbyterian, ' '  (Bishop  Lightfoot).  In 
the  mountains  of  Northwestern  Italy  and 
Southeastern  France  the  Waldensees 
from  very  early  times  resisted  the  en- 
croachments of  Papacy  in  the  face  of  fu- 
rious persecutions  and  inhuman  tortures 
that  make  one  of  the  darkest  bloodiest 
chapters  in  history.  In  1880,  their  rep- 
resentative to  our  alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  sys- 
tem, said:  ^^We  cannot  call  ourselves  a 
reformed  church  because  we  have  never 
been  deformed.''  Here  are  tv/o  articles 
in  their  constitution,    written  several 


9 


hunclred  years  before  the  ,Reformati  m; 
'^TLe  duties  of  our  pastor^  are  to  preach 
tbo  word,  administer  the  skcraments,  and 
watch  over  the  people,  together  with  the 
elders  and  deacons,  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  churches.'' 
^*  0.ir  pastors  do  call  as:semb.li«-s  once  ev- 
ery ^  ear,  to  determine  of  all  affairs  in 
a  general  Synod.'' 

The  Church  of  Scotland  was  another 
witness  to  the  truth  in  the  Dark  Ages. 
Do  you  know  that  Saint  Patrick,  whom 
the  Irish  Catholics  worship  as  their  pa- 
tron saint,  was  really  a  Scotch  Presbyte- 
rian missionary*?  In  the  fifth  century 
he  evengelized  Ireland,  organizing  365 
churches  and  ordaining  over  them  365 
bishops  or  pastors  and  3,000  elders.  In 
563  A.  D.,  Columba  established  on  the 
island  of  lona,  off  the  west  coast  of  Scot- 
land, a  mission  station  and  college.  This 
became  the  great  missonary  organization 
of  those  times,  sending  evangelists 
through  Scotland,  Britain,  France,  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland,  and  spreading 
the  pure  gospel  for  300  years.  These 
Christians  were  called  Culdees,  because 
they  were  governed  by  Culdei  or  elders. 
Their  preachers  were  ordained  by  elders 
and  all  called  bishops.  For  500  years 
tbey  struggled  with  Rome.  English  wri- 
ters of  the  eighth  century  testify  to  the 
rejection  of  Romish  ceremonies,  doc- 
trines and  traditions,  their  simple  forms 
cf  worship,  and  their  republican  govern- 
ment. These  principles  were  never  erad- 
icated in  'Scotland,  and  when  John  Knox 


10 


preached  a  revival  of  Presbyterianism  it 
was  accepted  readily. 

This  brings  us  to  the  Reformation  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  Nearly  all  of  the 
great  reformers  affirmed  the  original  gov 
ernment  of  the  church  by  presbyters; 
and  the  reformed  churches  of  Switzer- 
land, Hungary,  Moravia,  Germany, 
France,  Holland  and  Scotland  embodied 
the  Presbyterian  church  that  adopted 
the  prelatical  system  was  that  of  Eng- 
land; because  the  reformation  there  was 
under  the  auspices  of  the  kings;  and  as 
the  astute  James  I.  observed,  ^'Mon- 
archy doth  agree  with  presbytery  as  God 
doth  agree  with  the  devil. 

John  Calvin  devoted  his  illustrious 
talents  to  organizing  a  church  in  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  on  strictly  biblical  piinci- 
ples,  in  doctrine,  government  and  wor- 
ship. Geneva  with  its  schools,  theolog- 
ical semnary  and  printing  establishments 
became  a  center  of  religious  influence, 
the  inspiration  of  protestantism,  and  a 
model  for  other  churches.  And  the  re- 
publican principles  there  taught  and  ex- 
emplified became-' also  the  great  forma- 
tion influence  in  modern  political  com- 
monwealths. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  France 
(Huguenots)  was  for  a  time  the  greatest 
protestant  church  of  Europe.  At  the 
massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew  75,000 
were  butchered  in  Paris  and  elsewhere; 
and  within  thirty  years  nearly  one  rail- 
lion  were  martyred.    After  the  rv^voea- 


11 


tion  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  the  devoted 
church  was  almost  annihilated. 

One  of  the  most  glorious  chapters  in 
Presbyterian  history  was  the  struggle  of 
the  sturdy  Hollanders  against  the  bloody 
Duke  of  Alva  and  the  Catholic  power 
of  Spain,  and-  their  final  achievement  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty 

Among  the  students  who  flocked  to 
Geneva  was  John  Knox,  of  Scotland.  He 
afterwards  led  in  a  strenuous  fight 
against  papacy  in  Scotland,  and  succeed- 
ed in  having  it  abolished  and  Presbyte- 
rian: sm  established.  Then  cam.e  another 
contest  for  Christ ^s  crown  and  covenant 
against  the  English  hierarchy  and  Mon- 
archy; and  so  for  a  cenutry  and  a  half 
this  church  had  to  ^^wade  through  bloody 
seas.'' 

Since  the  Reformation  these  Presbyte- 
rian principles  have  been  disseminated 
throughout  the  world  by  emigration  and 
evangelization.  Their  adherents  now 
number,  in  the  United  States  and  Cana- 
da, seven  million;  in  Great  Britain,  five 
million;  in  Europe,  eleven  and  a  half 
million;  and  in  other  countries,  one  and 
a  half  million;  a  total  of  twenty-five  mil- 
lion— the  largest  evangelical  denomina- 
tion in  the  world. 

Our  Presbyterian  system  is  the  herit- 
age of  4,000  years  of  glorious  history. 
This  was  the  government  of  'Hhe 
Church  in  the  Wilderness,''  and  of  the 
Hebrew  Spiritual  Commonwealth;  after 
the  Babylonish  captivity  it  was  provi- 
dentially modified  so  as  to  be  admirably 


12 


adapted  to  the  conditions  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  and  the  apostles  adopted 
and  applied  its  principles;  during  the 
Dark  Ages  it  was  the  conservator  of  ev- 
ery vital  truth^  and  its  adherents  were 
in  the  vanguard  of  the  reforming  forces; 
and  they  have  ever  since  been  leaders  in 
the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Thus 
it  has  been  transplanted  from  Egypt  to 
Canaan  and  from  Canaan  to  Babylon; 
has  been  established  in  cultured  i^reece 
and  Barbarian  Britain;  has  crossed  one 
ocean  to  America  and  another  to  the 
Orient;  and  has  been  found  adapted  to 
every  people  and  to  all  conditions. 

It  has  borne  the  shock  of  war  and  the 
rack  and  flame  of  persecution;  has  been 
baptized  with  the  blood  of  martyrs,  and 
nourished  with  the  tears  and  prayers 
and  labors  of  the  most  illustrious  saints; 
has  trained  the  noblest  men  and  the 
grandest  churches,  and  been  the  foster 
mother  of  modern  republican  liberties 
and  institutions.  '^It  can  never  die;  it 
will  never  see  the  decrepitude  of  old 
age;  but  will  live  in  the  unfading  fresh- 
ness of  self -renewing  youth  and  the  un- 
broken vigor  of  manhood  to  the  end  of 
time,  and  will  outlive  time  itself.''  Yes, 
for  round  about  the  eternal  throne  sit 
four  and  twenty  elders  as  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  glorified  church,  and  they 
^^fall  down  before  him  that  sitteth  on 
the  throne,  and  worship  him  that  liveth 
for  ever  and  ever,  and  cast  their  crowns 
before  the  throne,  saying.  Thou  are  wor- 
thy, 0  Lord,  and  receive  glory  and  hon- 


13 


or  and  power,  for  thou  hast  created  all 
things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they  art  and 
wert  created''  (Rev.  4:10-11).  There 
in  heaven  itself  our  immortal  church  still 
fulfills  her  mission  in  hymning  the 
praises  and  exalting  the  sovereignty  and 
majesty  of  her  Lord  and  Saviour. 

Let  us  study  the  doctrines  and  history 
of  this  grand  old  church,  glory  in  the 
record  of  her  past  and  pray  for  the  suc- 
cess of  her  future,  delight  ourselves  in 
her  worship  and  consecrate  ourselves  to 
her  service.  ^^They  that  sing  shall  say, 
all  my  fountains  are  in  thee.'' 


14 


